Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region VIII
Schools Division of Baybay City
Baybay 2 District
BANAHAO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

First Quarter Week No. 1

INFORMATION SHEET

Subject : Creative Nonfiction

Grade Level : 12
Subject Type : Specialized
Learning Competency : Analyze the theme and techniques used in a particular text

KEY CONCEPTS

From your past lessons in literature, you have learned its main divisions which are prose
and the poetry. Prose is divided into two: the fiction and the non-fiction. Both have their common
and distinct elements and types. Below are information about the genres (focusing more on
nonfiction accounts and the meaning of creative nonfiction). Have time to study them!

About Fiction and Nonfiction Kinds of Fiction and Nonfiction

Fiction Nonfiction Most Common Genres
Features Features Fiction Nonfiction
• Imaginary • Real fables, folktales, biography
• Characters -People fairytales
-People -Events
fantasy, mystery autobiography
-Animals -Ideas
-Objects • Fact myth, legend newspaper article
• Plot • Organization Style historical fiction essay
-Setting realistic fiction documentary
-Conflict drama, poetry speeches, diaries, letters
-Resolution
Theme science fiction informational

The Elements of Fiction Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing

There are eight elements of fiction that utilizes the elements and styles of
l nd structure writing fiction to artistically and
l aesthetically express, inform and
persuade others about facts and true life
l
accounts.
l
l
l
l
l

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 What is Nonfiction?

Non-fiction pieces are based on facts and author’s opinions about a subject.
Non-fiction could be biographies, articles from textbooks, newspaper and magazine articles.

 The purpose of non-fiction writing is to inform and sometimes persuade.
Figure 1

Creative non-fiction texts are true accounts while utilizing some of the techniques and
styles of fiction. Creativity includes the use of literary devices which can be divided into two:
literary techniques (which include the use of figurative language) and literary elements (which
include the theme).
Literary Techniques are specific, deliberate construction and use of language to convey
meaning. Oftentimes, these techniques are indirectly or implicitly used in a text. Sometimes,
readers experience difficulty in figuring out the intended meaning because of these techniques.
Unlike literary texts, techniques are not necessarily present in all texts. However, creative non-
fiction texts utilize techniques commonly used in literary texts as part of art and aesthetic aspect of
writing. Sometimes, these techniques are used in free and formal and informative and narrative
essays.
Some of these techniques are the inclusion of figures of speech, dialogue, imagery, kenning,
symbolism, parallelism, foreshadowing, flashback, approach to events such as deductive or
inductive, employment of sounds, choice of word, humor, representation, and form of writing and
more others.
Theme refers to the central idea, subject, topic or message of the text. Oftentimes, a
narrative text, poetry and literary texts have themes. Themes are the overall idea or message
conveyed in the text. It is an underlying belief and outlook of the author about life inside and
outside him. It is often universal. Universality means true to all- felt and experienced by all.

Some of the examples of themes are love, power, corruption, courage, excellence,
prejudice, discrimination, good versus evil, heroism, beauty, nationalism, patriotism, positivity,
poverty, piousness or religiosity, survival and many more.

To better facilitate your understanding about techniques and themes used in a text, figure 2
below is presented.
LITERARY TECHNIQUE THEME
It refers to a specific, deliberate It refers to the central idea,
construction and use of language to message or subject the text want to
convey meaning. It is an artistic and an convey. It is a revolving idea
althroughout the text conveyed
aesthetics way of writing texts.
through significant events,

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 elements and techniques.

Figure 2

LITERARY TECHNIQUES THEMES

1.
figures of speech 7. sound 1. love 8. poverty
2.
symbolism 8. humor 2. heroism 9. positivity
3.
representations 9. choice of word 3. courage 10. piousness
4.
kenning 4. power 11. religiosity
5.
parallelism 10. arrangement 5. corruption 12. deaths
6.
imagery 6. friendship
7. survival

Figure 3 below shows how to analyze techniques and interpret themes used in a text.
How to analyze techniques and interpret themes used in a text?

have enough have

knowledge or comprehension,
mastery about interpretive and
literary techniques critical level of
and themes reading

know how to relate

experiences to the
loves reading and
text or vise versa
learning

Figure 3

References:

Caplis, Abelardo J. 2020. " Creative Non-Fiction Module 1." HUMMS - Creative Non-Fiction. La
Union .

CREATIVE NONFICTION
First Quarter Week No. 1
ACTIVITY SHEET
Activity 1

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 Directions: Read, analyze and enjoy a true-to-life narrative text taken from one of the best
stories of True Accounts written by TIF Marcelo via Facebook and Instagram. This story is
inspired by his friend named Sha.

The Diary of the Girl

Dear Diary,

It was a very cold winter when the breath of the light of home was taken back by the Giver of life. I
was out in the dark during that time. The moon keeps on smiling but suddenly it cried. I have cried out so
loud from the envelope of love and caress. At the same time, the deafening silence of the great woman
cornered the four sides of the white room. Together with the men and women in white, is the pillar of home.
Yes, he was left alone, just with me, with that day of tears, sorrow and melancholy.
But he, knowing I am the cause of the decease of his dearly love, his flower of delight since high
school of loyalty and honesty, with love and tenderness, with sacrifice and devotion, he poses that smile of
inspiring and motivating love as I was going out of the school. It seems he always misses me after eight
hours stay inside that highly-cost home of human knowledge and wisdom. He holds and carries me in his
strong arms as he turns me once or twice around. He kisses me with his beard that tickles my thin skin. But
the feeling is different. I love it.
Yes, he was left alone with only a piece of land inherited from his deceased parents (which was sold
when I was out to light) since my mom’s family defied him for his indigence and misfortune. He was alone.
He works nine or ten hours a day in that factory of not-so-popular cloth trade. His pay is just a little.
However, his money is like abundant leaves. I was wondering how he pays our rent, our water, our food,
my ice cream, my Barbie, my tiny thick uniform, my candies, my chocolates and my pretty toys.
Sometimes, I ask the air, “Where on earth my dad get lots of money?” Isn’t it surprising? Yes it is. It
is really surprising that my dad pretends to be happy though I am the cause of his heartaches when mom
died. Yes he is rich because he pretends to be someone because he wants me to be happy at all times. He
pretends not to be tired because he wants me to be good at school. He makes me laugh because he does
not want me to be lonely. And most of all, he wants me to smile because when I do, his pain will go away.
Sometimes, he holds his stomach. I know it is empty for the whole day. How I wish that time must fly so fast
so I could accompany him to bear his burdens.
I knew it then. I knew that his joy is me. He sacrifices, he lies and he pretends because I am the
only fruit of his sweet long love from the great woman whom I owe my life- my mom. How touching for a
little girl like me with five and four years in this world! Though innocent, I feel the warm caress and tender
touch, sweetest smile and eyes so bright of my dad.
This is Sharina, leaving you of the greetings, “Happy Father’s Day! Love your dad unconditionally!”

Activity 1A:
Directions: Read the questions below and choose the correct answer from the given choices.

1. What point of view was used in the text?

A. First Person B. Omniscient C. Second Person
2. What does the persona refer to as the “light of home”?
A. Father B. Mother C. Self
3. What happened during that cold winter as stated in the introduction part of the text?
A. The mother died. B. The father left. C. The baby died.
4. What does the persona refer to as the “envelope of love and caress”?
A. loving hands of the father B. the warm look of the mother
C. the womb of the mother

5. How will you describe the tone of the opening or introduction part?
A. Happiness B. Excitement C. Sadness
6. How does the persona describe the light of home?

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 A. Courageous B. Great C. Weak
7. What does the persona mean when she said “home of human knowledge and
wisdom”?
A. Family B. Hospital C. School
8. What particular annual celebration was the letter written?
A. Christmas Program B. Mother’s Day C. Father’s Day
9. Why does the father pretend to be someone else?
A. He does not want his daughter to see his struggles.
B. He wants to retain in his daughter’s mind that they are rich.
C. He loves his daughter that he provides everything and he does not want his
daughter to see him struggling.
10. Why did the author write this true account?
A. to inspire people to be better on their studies
B. to persuade readers to love, respect and appreciate their fathers
C. to emphasize the greater value of loving mothers who bear a baby and sacrifice
her life

Activity 1B:
Directions: Read and answer the questions below. Identify what is asked for each item. Choose the
correct answer from the given choices in the box provided below.

Apostrophe Kenning Father Gender/Masculine Symbolism

Oxymoron Simile Narrative Personification God

_____________1. What does the writer refer to when he said, “Giver of Life”?
_____________2. What does the writer refer to when he said, “Pillar of Home”?
_____________3. What figure of speech is used with the statement, “His money is like
abundant leaves.”?
_____________4. What figure of speech is used in the statement, I ask the air, “Where on earth
my dad get lots of money?”
_____________5. What does the word flower symbolize from the statement, “I am the
cause of the decease of his dearly love, his flower of delight.”?
_____________6. What figure of speech is used in the statement, “The moon
kept on smiling but suddenly it cried.”?
_____________7. What Archaic Style is used in writing the text?
_____________8. What technical approach is used to conceptualize the story?
_____________9. What figure of speech is used in the statement, “The
deafening silence of the great woman cornered the four sides
of the white room.”?
____________10. What type of text is “The Diary of the Girl?

Activity 2
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Directions: Read, comprehend and analyze the text below. Then do the activities that follow.

The Truth About Filipino Old Timers

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

The very first O.T. (Filipino Old Timer) I heard about was the man who returned to Cebu to marry my
mother’s friend, a spinster advanced in years. During afternoon meriendas, I overheard the development of
this alliance.
A crusty lady set in her ways, my mother’s friend refused to migrate to America and the newlyweds
lived in her seaside town. It was a poor place which relied only on the sea’s yield and he quickly grew sick
of eating fish and rice. He longed for steaks, broccoli, and asparagus; he wanted them both to go to the
United States. She adamantly said no and finally he returned to America alone.
I got the idea that O.T.’s were displaced human beings after seeing another O.T. in a travel agency.
A quiet man with skin like stretched leather, he stood solemnly while his relatives made arrangements for
his quick return to the U.S. His children had bought him a round-trip ticket from the U.S. to the Philippines
and back. He had not been home in over forty years; it had been his dream to return. But after just a few
days in his hometown, he became very unhappy and wanted to leave.
When I was a graduate student at UCLA, I became scared when an O.T. began trailing me. I was
shopping in Westwood Village, and later he even rode my bus. I managed to lose him, but I sometimes
wondered why he did that. That summer when I lived with my friend and her uncle, an O.T. – the one
married to an ex-nun – I was also puzzled when he followed my friend and me everywhere. I would
discover years later that these men, who had generally been isolated from Filipino women, took pleasure in
just looking at and being with Filipinas.
After seeing more of California, I made a mental picture of where these Old Timers worked – on the
farms of Salinas; in the canneries of Monterey, perhaps in the Portola Sardine Factory. I imagined Temple
Street before the freeways, the raunchy bars and restaurants where they hung out. I knew there were few
places where these men could socialize in during the 1940s. Sometime, somewhere, I had seen a poster
saying: No Dogs and No Filipinos Allowed.
I created a stereotype of them, and I pitied these old men who had labored under California’s scorching
sun, who were not allowed to marry white women, who had only one another and their card games and
their whisky.
It was Tony who wrecked this mental picture.
My husband, son, and I used to live in an apartment in Los Angeles, where Tony, an O.T., lived in
one of the downstairs apartments. I felt sorry for Tony. He was a small man who wore floppy fedoras, loose
coats and baggy pants. I compared him with the elderly in the Philippines who were surrounded by
abundant children and grandchildren. I remembered having to kiss the hands of my grandfather and
granduncles to greet them. I projected everything I knew about O.T.’s on Tony and I almost wept when I
told my husband about him.
My husband said Tony seemed fine, that he had seen him exit from a bar down the street. Of
course, I retorted, the poor man is so miserable, he’s driven to drink. I adopted Tony as a mental relative of
sorts; after all, we were both strangers in a strange land.
I never spoke to him because he was a very private man who came and went without any fuss.
There were, however, occasional strange sounds that came from his apartment. Once, on the way to the
laundry room, I walked by his bathroom and heard what seemed to be an animal in great agony. I thought
nothing of it.
When Christmas came, I gave him a box of See’s candies. “I thought you’re Vietnamese married to
a G.I.,” he said. The very next day he came knocking and handed me a larger box of See’s candies with an
enormous red bow and plastic flowers. He didn’t say anything; he just gave me the box and left.
As the months passed, Tony continued coming and going as before, and I continued entertaining
this vision of him as a pathetic old man. But in the summer, I had to change my view of Tony and about
O.T.’s in general.
One night there was a terrible commotion from Tony’s apartment. My husband and I peeped out our
window and saw the manager with two policemen in front of Tony’s place. I was sure they had found him
dead or hurt.
In the morning we hurried to the manager to find out what had happened. “Oh,” she said – she was
a German lady, large with red hair—“nothing to worry about. This happened before.” Our eyebrows shot up
questioningly and she explained that Tony had girlfriends who sometimes moved into his apartment. “The

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giggling and goings-on coming from that place!” she added. Tony apparently wanted his current girlfriend to
move out but she refused, thus the hassle.
It took me a while to absorb her words. My husband laughed but I stood there thoroughly puzzled. I
had all these ideas about Old Timers, about Tony, I had to rethink things.
Now when I see Old Timers huddled over their card games, my first instinct is still a wave of
sympathy, but I just think of Tony and I chuckle and wish them a good hand.

ACTIVITY 2:
Directions: Answer the following questions.

1. What does O.T’s (Filipino Old Timers) mean based from the text?
2. Read the second paragraph. How did the writer characterize the man (he)?
3. Is there an imagery used in the text? Enumerate some.
4. The word meriendas is used in the text. What do you call this choice of word by the writer?
5. What was the first impression of the persona about Filipino Old Timers?
6. Does this impression change based on the events of the story? What literary
technique is used in this part?
7. Quoted speech is employed in the text. What do you call this technique?
8. Is there a flashback employed in writing? Cite it.
9. What kind of text is “The Truth About Filipino Old Timers”?
10. What character of Filipino old timers is shown in the story?

Quarter 1 Creative Nonfiction week 1

ASSESSMENT SHEET

Directions: Read and analyze the questions below. Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write
the letter of your choice on the space provided before the item.

___1. Which of the following ideas refers to the specific and deliberate use of
language to convey meaning and is considered as a device?
A. Literary Device B. Literary Technique C. Poetic License

___2. What is the central idea or message which the story or text revolves in?
A. Character B. Point of View C. Theme

___3. The use of quoted speech or direct statements in the text is an example of literary
technique. What specific literary technique is this?
A. Conversation B. Dialogue C. Foreshadowing

___4. Which of the following items does NOT belong to the group?
A. Characters B. Figures of Speech C. Symbolism

___5. Which of the following items does NOT belong to the group?

A. Love B. Heroism C. Flashback

___6. What is the basic pre-requisite of analyzing techniques used in a text?

A. considerable comprehension level
B. knowledge about literary techniques
C. both A and B

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___7. What aspect is deemed necessary in order for the reader to connect and relate with
the text?
A. Experience B. Knowledge C. Love for Reading
___8. Why do writers use figurative language as one of the techniques in writing a text?
A. It is for the purpose of art and aesthetics.
B. It makes conveyance of meaning more understandable.
C. It functions as the other way of expression to impress readers.

___9. What literary technique is employed when you encounter statements in a text such
as, I remember one occasion in the year 2018, during Christmas eve…?
A. Flashback B. Foreshadowing C. Representation

___10. What literary technique is employed when you encounter statements in a text such
as, This house if shall pass will be fruitful ‘til the end of its might…?
A. Dialogue B. Parallelism C. Symbolism

___11. “I see all his stars- his stars of success!” What figure of speech is used in this
statement if the star is used to replace potentials?
A. Metaphor B. Metonymy C. Synecdoche

___12. “I experience a lot of heartaches from the community I belong. Because I am a

black man, I was rejected by few if not some.” If this statement is part of the text,
what is its theme?
A. Discrimination B. Poverty C. Religiosity

___13. “I know that today, you will rock it on! You will definitely get a high score in your
exams! Why? Because you are great and mommy too! Good luck baby!” If this
statement is part if the text, what is its theme?
A. Love and support of a Mother
B. The Power of Optimism
C. The Importance of Love and Care

___14. Which of the following statements best shows Heroism as a theme?

A. I never thought I could do that. I ran away from the killer!
B. To save one’s life is not a choice. It is a duty to God and to fellowmen. I saved the boy
even if I risk my life.
C. Looking back to our life status before, we are compared to a
stray dog with no permanent refuge, no food to eat, no any single penny and no
one dares to lend us a helping hand.

___15. A theme is not only limited to one word or phrases. It could also be a
complete statement, universal and debatable. Which of the given themes passes
this standard?
A. Money is the root of all evil.
B. Life in America is not at all a bed of roses.
C. God is supreme and the greatest of all who came from nowhere.